Training Exercises

Potting Long Blues

Potting long blues is definitely a ‘Get out of jail card’ for when your position goes astray.

Being able to take a long blue into any of the four corner pockets when you have lost position gives you the opportunity to get back into the middle of the table and onto a free red to continue the break.

Building this shot into your practice routine will help build confidence when the opportunity arises in matches; practicing it regularly will ensure you build a nice rhythm for those pressurised match situations.

We are all at different levels of the game so try and set yourself realistic targets to help you improve. Some players like to just use one pocket and pot blues of the spot, others place red after red on the blue spot and do 15 where others will pot 10 long blues in each corner.

Ensure you practice this as it is key and you will quickly discover how you get on and how much time you should dedicate to it

Setting the exercise up

Potting Long Blues:

• Place the blue on the blue spot
• Set the white up around 2ft (or 3ft, 4ft ) from the blue and in a straight line to the corner pocket

Initial exercise suggestions

Potting Long Blues:

• Pot 5 to 10 long straight blues into each corner pocket from 2ft
• Repeat this exercise at further distances down the line
• Record your score to gauge your improvement as practice sessions go forward

Other points to consider

Potting Long Blues:

This is a nice exercise to help the player understand if they can pot straight balls, which part of the pocket you should be aiming at for greatest success and working on a nice rhythm so cueing remains smooth.

 

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